A Slightly Unusual Curry

চামড়ার তরকারী, বসানো রান্না

Slow Cooked Chicken Skin Curry

Chicken skin curry, served in a bowl

In our house, chicken would always be cooked skinless. Rather than wasting the chicken skin, my mom would occasionally cook this dish for me. It's not something she would do often, however, because skin is very high in fat - especially if it's coming from chicken that wasn't raised free range. I don't intend to cook this often either, but it is one of my favourites, and as such I can't not put it up on the blog!



Ingredients

• Chicken skin from 3 chickens
• 0.50 teaspoons of powdered turmeric
• 0.50 teaspoons of powdered coriander
• 0.50 teaspoons of powdered cumin
• 0.50 teaspoons of powdered chilli, more to taste if necessary
• 0.25 teaspoons of black pepper
• 1.00 teaspoon of salt, more to taste if necessary
• 0.50 tablespoons of ginger paste
• 0.50 tablespoons of garlic paste
• 1 medium onion
• 2 cardamoms
• 4 or 5 cloves
• 3 cinnamon sticks, each 3.00 cm long
• 2 dried bay leaves

Method

• Wash the chicken skin thoroughly
• Put a pot onto the stove on medium heat
• Transfer the chicken skin to the pot, stirring slightly to spread the skin evenly over the pot's surface
• Add all the spices to the pot, and stir thoroughly to mix everything
• Add 0.25 cups of boiling water to the pot, stir to mix, cover and cook for 20 minutes
• During cooking, uncover and stir occasionally to ensure the curry doesn't burn at the bottom
• At the 20 minute mark, taste for salt, adding more if necessary
• Add a little boiling water again to the curry if it seems too dry, stirring to mix it in with the spices
• Cover again, and leave to cook for a final 20 minutes, uncovering and stirring occasionally to ensure the curry doesn't burn at the bottom
• Serve with plain rice or flat breads like ruti

 Top left, chicken skin with powdered spices; top right with spices mixed in.

Bottom left, curry being cooked; bottom right, the curry just as it's done.

Additional Notes

The chicken skin in this recipe can be replaced with organic or free range chicken if you're feeling a little bit more conventional. The meat on organic or free range chicken should be tough enough to withstand the slow cooking.